craft Archives - Page 30 of 40

The Bug Book
by Sue Fliess (Author)

Bugs, bugs, everywhere! There are big bugs and small bugs, creeping bugs and flying bugs. Grab your bucket and explore the dirt and the sky.

#kidlit Writing Lesson: the small details

This rhyming story opens with an invitation to readers:

Grab your bucket. Check your guide.
Let’s go find some bugs outside.

Notice the use of the second person voice.

Grab your bucket.

Second person is the voice used to give directions.

Check your guide.

Each line has a different action verb.

Let’s go find some bugs outside.

Each line on this first page is a call to action.

See the book trailer.

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

A Complicated Case
by Ulf Nilsson (Author) and Gitte Spee (Illustrator)

Booktalk: The BIG Picture

There is something going on among the forest animals that’s making everyone unhappy. Detective Gordon and police assistant Buffy have a new case to investigate!

#kidlit Writing Lesson: the small details

In chapter four, Buffy goes out to look for suspects. She sees the rabbit who ran away earlier:

“Hello!” she said.

“Help!” the rabbit jumped and shrieked. “No, I don’t want to talk to the police. That will only make it worse.”

Buffy sat down beside him. She patted him a little on his soft, fluffy coat which smelled of wool, carrots, and torn grass.

Notice the action and reaction:

“Hello!” she said.

“Help!” the rabbit jumped and shrieked.

The rabbit’s dialogue reveals more about the case that the little mouse is investigating:

“No, I don’t want to talk to the police. That will only make it worse.”

Buffy’s reaction to the rabbit’s information is unexpected. It is also filled with sensory details:

Buffy sat down beside him. She patted him a little on his soft, fluffy coat which smelled of wool, carrots, and torn grass.

Later in this mystery story, these sensory details are used as clues.